Imagine writing a short play…and then casting, directing, rehearsing, and performing it in front of an audience in the same day!

That was exactly the case at Saturday’s 24-Hour Play Festival. The event, organized by the Contemporary Theater Company and held at South Kingstown High School, was the 6^th annual of its kind. As is the tradition, members prepared, rehearsed, and performed a series of short plays all within 24 hours.

Throughout the busy day, members busied themselves with a plethora of activities including setting up lights, testing microphones, creating props, picking up materials around town, and of course rehearsing for the big performance.

A focus of the show is to “[bring] the theatre to the community,” explained Casey Wright of Wakefield, who has worked with the Contemporary Theater Company for a little over one year. “We’re getting the community involved in more theatre things.”

“This whole experience is about trying to do something really awesome and really unique in a really short amount of time,” added Chris Barrett of Kingston, business manager of the Contemporary Theater Company.

The Contemporary Theater Company (CTC) is a nonprofit organization founded in 2005. This troupe involves “local artists creating an event for the community,” according to Jillian Thacher of Narragansett, programming director and vice president of the CTC. Members have produced many events, and the 24-Hour Play Festival is one of its trademark productions. “We traditionally hold it in January,” Barrett said. “It’s kind of our signature show.”

This is understandably so, with the excitement of young local artists coming face to face with freshly-written scripts, making sure that the show will run smoothly. “It’s pushing the limits,” Thacher said. “It’s what can you do in such a short amount of time. How impressive can you make this? It’s really testing everyone’s talent.”  

The tradition stays strong. “It always comes out very well. It’s always hilarious,” Thacher reflected with a smile. “There are always one or two that make you think a little bit. They’re always very well written, very well acted, directed. It’s amazing how much you can pull together in 24 hours.”   

This is amazing indeed, considering all of the hard work and unusual scheduling of the day. Barrett explained the schedule: “We have been in this building since about 7:30 AM. Before that we were in an ultra-secret location where the writers actually wrote the scripts, and then we had some tech crew here early and they met the actors.”

The members came together to perform six short original plays.

Actor Patrick Keeffe of Saunderstown regarded the experience fondly: “I think it went really well. We made a lot of stuff up on the spot. I feel pretty good about how the audience reacted. Overall I feel good about my performance and I feel good about everybody else’s performance. It was fun.”

“It’s definitely worth it,” Wright added.

Amidst the busy schedule, the experience is one to remember. Members can reflect on the day, and catch some well-deserved rest.

“We will all be sleeping a lot tomorrow,” Barrett joked.

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Congratulations and great job to all!

For more about the Contemporary Theater Company, please visit their website

For a list of upcoming productions, please visit their upcoming show page.